May. 26, 2012

(Dreamstime)

A veritable rainbow of paint drips decorates the top of our dining room table. On the floor beneath it are hundreds of tiny scraps of paper and the blunt-nosed scissors that snipped them. A nearby bin collects other tools of the toddler art trade: crayons and markers, glue sticks, pipe cleaners and empty toilet paper rolls.

Taped to the window are our childrens masterpieces: paper snowflakes, a construction paper owl, and an igloo made of mini-marshmallows, though someone seems to have removed, and most likely consumed, most of the marshmallows.

While I would prefer my home to be mistaken for a Pottery Barn catalog shoot, I accept this colorful mess because it fosters creativity, an important developmental skill for children — and a spiritual practice for adults.

Granted, I have a crafty thumb. When we go camping with friends, Im the one who brings the balls of yarn to make Gods eyes. At Christmas, I organize gingerbread-house-making parties. While Daddy loves to play outside with our 3- and 4-year-old, Im more apt to haul out the Play-Doh, paints or cookie recipe.

It runs in our family. My own creativity was nurtured by a mother, aunts and grandmothers who painted their own ceramics, tatted the edges of their own pillowcases and canned their own handpicked blueberries. I was taught to knit, embroider and sew at a young age. And my mother retaught me in adulthood when I wanted to pick up those hobbies again.

So when my own children get restless, we paint rocks gathered at the beach or iron crayon shavings between wax paper to make stained glass windows. I abhor packaged craft projects that come with pre-cut pieces that only need to be assembled. Wheres the imagination in that?

The whole point of crafting is to make something entirely new that no one else has ever made or could have made. To do that, we have to let our minds empty so we can see what ideas percolate when faced with a blank sheet of paper.

Sometimes the creative process can help with the mind-emptying. At the university where I teach, meditative coloring is offered as a stress reliever during finals week. Similarly, the repetition of knitting or hand-sewing can result in what some call flow and Christians call joy.

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